Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Hosted by Shawn Langwell

All I Want for Christmas is a New Liver So I Can Live

There are best-selling guided journals out there like "Bro, tell me your story."  But those are guides, this is the raw, unedited real deal from my brother Kelly talking about his downfall with alcohol and the "Christmas Miracle" five years ago when he was literally given a liver transplant that saved his life. 

This is our heartfelt, real conversation about the incidents leading up to that miracle and how we both have battled our own inner demons from our dysfunctional upbringing, including our escape with drugs and alcohol and how we've lived to tell the story. 

Beyond these events, and the fact that our youngest brother Seth wasn't so lucky (after years of battling his own demons, he lost the battle, falling asleep at the wheel in 1999. He died instantly in a car crash two weeks shy of his 29th birthday) we are sharing this story with the world because it might help a few people or their families find the courage, strength, and resilience to keep fighting and never give up.

May the brotherly love we share be a light to guide those who are still suffering and encouragement to help them (or you) ask for help.

____ about this show____

Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 200% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking we talk about on the show.

If you liked this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show. 

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

Why Heart Matters and Creative Writing is a Great Elixir for Exploration and Healing

Join me and Curtis as we talk about writing, family dysfunction,   how he turned three screenplays into an evocative new book, Lost and Found: Coming of Age. Coming Clean.

Synopsis:

An eighteen year old leaves his home in Philadelphia to get away from a drug- addicted mother and her abusive partner—and to track down the man he thought was his deadbeat dad. His bus trip across the country and adventures in San Francisco, bring him answers and unexpected discoveries—and a new friend. When an accident brings both mothers and dad together for a reunion of opposites, we just might discover that we can respect and appreciate our different journeys.

About Curtis: 

Every writer’s experiences can influence a novel’s storyline and characters. Curtis’ struggles plus those of his characters (including homelessness, addiction, sexual, or domestic abuse), might inspire readers to look into their own lives and local resources.

He returned to San Francisco State University to do postgraduate in screenwriting and believing his stories should entertain even when they might enlighten and empower, he converted his trilogy into a novel. That actually has allowed him to go deeper into the lives and psyches of his original characters.

Now living in Santa Rosa with his husband, Dr. Charles Roth, PhD, and working a few days a week in the Wellness Department at Oliver’s, he shares what he knows about nutrition. Additionally, he offer assistance to organizations such as Verity, a rape-crisis service in Santa Rosa whose mission is to help people recover and find peace and harmony in their lives.

Website: www.jcurtismoran.com   

Email address: [email protected]

About this show and Shawn Langwell:

Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 300% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking we talk about on the show.

If you liked this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show. 

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

Join me and Consultant, Jonathan Mahrt for an Open Conversation About Making Meaningful Upgrades to Systems, Processes, Operations

About Jonathan:

Jonathan Mahrt is the founder of Flywheel Consulting, a boutique business consulting firm focused on digital transformation and business process improvement. Growing up and working on his family’s farm, Jonathan learned the value of hard work, creative problem solving, and doing the right things the right way.

He leverages 14 years of real world business, operations, IT, and automation experience to help his clients make meaningful changes in their businesses by streamlining busywork, modernizing operations, and automating business processes. This allows business owners to spend less time working in their business so that they can spend more time working on their business.

Find Jonathan Here:

Flywheel Consulting

[email protected]

707-232-5352

Website: www.flywheelconsulting.co

Social Media links: https://www.instagram.com/flywheel_consulting, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558910588811, https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanmahrt/

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About the show and where you can find/follow me:

Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 355% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show.  

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

More specifically, using his latest novel, The Bar Pilot as a framework, we talk about how to have fun with characters, themes, and start writing the novel you've often dreamed of.

About Tommie:

After graduating from UCLA in his still beloved City of the Angels, Tommie thought he would spent a quick three years at UC Hastings in San Francisco and then move to Los Angeles to practice law. Now, some 45 years later, he still lives in Marin County with his wife Svetlana and thoughts of moving south are only a dream. However, the law career, first as a criminal defense lawyer and then as a divorce lawyer, is winding down.

Instead, creative writing (novels, short stories and memoirs) is taking over.  In this new endeavor, Tommie is often able to offer intimate first hand and insightful views on that old adage, “Criminal lawyers see the worst people at their best, while divorce lawyers see the best people at the worst”.

However, Tommie has not limited his writing to criminal law and divorce. His first novel is about three couples. One member of each couple attends a series of personal development retreats and then deals with the consequences with their spouse when they return home. To say that the results are unexpected is an understatement. The second novel, to be published later this year, is a fictional account of his grandparents, Tom and Leone, in Arkansas, where they were farmers. Both were handicapped in their own way, Tom physically and Leone mentally. Yet four sons came of the union, all of whom overcame their parents to lead normal lives.

find him at: http://tommiewhitener.com/

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If you liked this episode, please share it with friends and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show. 

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

In January 2021, Leaning into Light founder Jessica Rios was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor. During a 9-hour brain surgery, she had a near death experience (NDE) that catapulted her greatest passion — illuminating the beauty of the human spirit by

Join us for a candid conversation about  trusting and surrendering to the divinity within and embracing our couargeous capacity for love from the inside out.

Jessica Rios is a prolific lifelong letter writer. Since childhood, Love has been her ' religion' and she has taken this devotion into her journey as a serial social entrepreneur, working on behalf of our planet Earth and to illuminate the beauty of the human spirit, so we can collectively create a world based more in Love, than fear. In 2021, she was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor that led her to release a lifelong addiction to food and sugar, and she now lives with more vitality than she ever knew was possible. On her 50th birthday, also the 50th anniversary of the UN declaring International Women's Day, Jessica performed a one-woman-show called Making Love to Fear. She is passionate about dancing, hiking, freestyle frisbee, cappuccino foam and singing Love songs. Raised in Fairfax, California, she has lived in Petaluma since 2013 with her daughter and their Goldendoodle, Jerry. 

Find Jessica at:

Website: ​www.leaningintolight.com

Social Media links: ​@makinglovetofear (IG)

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# Gratitude 

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Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 500% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show.

If you liked this episode, please share it with friends, and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show. 

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

This is a special treat to hear Crissi's story about Overcoming Compulsive Overeating, Sugar Addiction, and Body Image Issues.

Join us for a vulnerable and inspiring conversation about real  struggles with food and sugar addiction and her struggle to accept the concept of a higher power. A power, program, and new way of thinking and relating to food that has helped her make the positive mental, physical, emotional, and spirtual shifts with lasting results: Ilosing 50+ pounds, and reclaiming a sense of power and serenity around food and body issues over the past 2+ years.

About Crissi: 

Crissi L. is living in food recovery and has celebrated more than two years of abstinence from compulsive eating. As both an author and a storyteller, she shares openly about her journey to encourage others who are seeking freedom from food obsession and body shame. Find her on substack at foodaddict.substack.com. 

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Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 500% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show.

If you liked this episode, please share it with friends, and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show. 

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

Challenging systems takes courage and tenaciity as well as humble curiosity and a willingness to look in the mirror to connect with who we really are.

Join me and Tanya in this unedited and real conversation about working for the State of California under Governor Gavin Newsom, and how she has leveraged social advocacy through goodtroubleforchange.com and her coaching practice to help people identify, clarify, and replace old stories with new ones.

Tanya M. Thompson, MPA, CPM, is the founder of Level Up Coaching and creator of The Storyboard MethodTM, a framework that helps individuals, leaders, and organizations transform lived experience into strategy for growth and resilience. With 30 years across law enforcement, education, and social work, Tanya brings expertise in personal empowerment, cultural transformation, and organizational change.

Her work bridges the personal and the systemic: guiding individuals to reclaim their voice and purpose, equipping leaders to foster inclusion and integrity, and supporting organizations to

She holds a Master’s in Public Administration with a focus on Organizational Change and Counseling, and is a Certified Public Manager, a national designation for leaders in public service. Through her coaching, speaking, and advocacy, Tanya challenges systems while equipping people at every level to step into freedom, power, and possibility.

Her coaching website is under construction but you can reach Tanya by email: [email protected]

or through her other website: goodtroubleforchange.com or on IG https://www.youtube.com/@WWB-Good-Trouble; @levelupcoaching2023

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# Gratitude

Downloads of the Dare to Be Great, Dare to Be You Podcast have increased by 500% in the past 30 days. I have to assume it's because people are liking what we talk about on the show.

If you liked this episode, please share it with friends, and colleagues or leave a review and follow the show. 

If you want to learn more about what I have going on, including events, my latest books, and more, please visit: www.shawnlangwell.com. 

ABOUT RALPH 

He's an award-winning producer with a get-it-done (with a smile) attitude, Ralph Scott produces audiobooks, audio theatre, scripted entertainment, commercial spots, or pretty much anything within the live or recorded audio arena.

The characters Ralph creates on the spot (we lost count just north of 83) are only bested by the number of children’s verses he has written since he was handed a cocktail napkin on a dare back in 1993. (That would be just north of 1,700.) Give him three words and he’ll compose a witty poem for you in under five minutes.

Give him a studio and your manuscript and he’ll vibrantly breathe life into any character you craft.

Together with his roster of expert thespians, Ralph turns the studio into a theatre for the ear. Be sure to grab a chair the next time you download one of his audiobook productions. Dim the lights. And don’t forget the popcorn.

You’ll swear you’re in a movie.

URL: www.squeakycheeseproductions.com  PH: (707) 971 9419

Connect above and learn how to infuse your novel or nonfiction story with authentic characters and narrators through the power of radio theatre.

Why use one narrator to tell your story…when you can now afford three, four…even ten!

(Of course, for the Purists, we also produce Solo; Duet; Dual; and Dual-hybrid audiobooks, tapping an entire troupe of award-winning talent.)

– Miller Thomas, Author –

Wolf Hunter Inquisition

To find out what else I have going on, please visit shawnlangwell.com

Crissi Langwell is a romance author who writes heartfelt stories filled with humor, emotion, and a heavy dose of angst. She has been publishing books for over a decade, including her beachy Sunset Bay romance series, and now her steamy small town romance series, Lahoma Springs. When she’s not writing, Crissi stays busy as president of her local writers’ club Redwood Writers, serving as Communications Director of Oakmont Village Association, and getting lost in a good book (everything from romance to fantasy to thriller). She lives in Northern California with her writerly husband, Maine Coon cat Cleo, and a chair of laundry she swears she’ll fold any day now.

Join our conversation about writing process, fun backstory insights, and recent success with her recent Sunset Bay series and current release, The Jilted Lovers Club. in the Lahoma Springs Series.

Recent release (Summer 2025)

The Writer’s Healing Reset

The Writer’s Healing Reset is a gentle companion for burnt-out creatives, offering essays and journal prompts to help you untangle creative block, rediscover your voice, and return to the page with clarity and compassion. Whether you’re stuck in self-doubt or simply weary from the grind, this book invites you to reset on your own terms.

Find all her books here:  Crissi's full library, including the Sunset Bay Series, of published books.

Find her here:

Contact

facebook

Insta

PS: she is also is an outstanding Editor, Book Formatter, and Cover Desiger. Learn more at North Coast Stories.

On a personal note, she has done the covers and formatted every one of my books and is a dynamite human being I am proud to call my best friend and wife!

What started as a way to connect to her young adult daughter as an act of love and support, became somethng magical and much bigger.  

Join us as we "Lean Into Our Light" with her first ever podcast episode talking  about her process and her first book, an award-winnng gem that has been featured in several publications including The New York Telegraph Women's Reporter, CEO Times and Women's Insider.

One of the joys about this show is having raw, unedited conversations with my guests and trusting that what is supposed to happen will happen and the questions and answers that come out of it are what people will want to hear.

The irony is both MaryEllen and I have written books about trusting this process and learning how to overcome self-doubt while also building self-confidence. 

There are no mistakes! Only opportuities to learn, grow and improve.

Learn more about MaryEllen here: Lean Into Your Light

[email protected] 

MaryEllen moved from New York to Northern California to attend San Francisco State University. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration/Marketing and enjoyed many years in sales.

As an entrepreneur, she has started several businesses and most recently Co-Founded a nonprofit and serves on the Board of Directors.

She’s also a dedicated fitness enthusiast, having discovered yoga after the birth of her daughter. It became a huge passion, and she enrolled in an Advanced Studies/Teacher Training program. She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with the Yoga Alliance and has been leading classes, workshops, and retreats for over 23 years.

When not on her yoga mat, she loves traveling to explore new cultures. Closer to home, she can be found hiking the local hills, walking her dogs, and spending time with family.

Find her on here: Facebook Page

Find me at Shawn Langwell Author | Speaker | Teacher | Coach